Vijaya Malalasekera no more

Vijaya Malalasekera, a sportsman, sports administrator, lawyer and top corporate executive, passed away yesterday after a brief illness. His remains lies at Respect Parlour and the funeral will be held on Monday at the Borella cemetery.

Mr. Malalasekera had the distinction of hitting a century in the 1963 Royal-Thomian, sharing an unfinished fifth- wicket stand with Cedric Fernando when the chips were down on 42 for 4 in reply to Thomians 254 for 8. He was unbeaten on 112 with 20 fours and a six while his partner was unbeaten on 47 when they decided to declare their innings on 207 for 4.

“Some of Vijaya’s drives to the cover boundary were of such ferocity and force, the ball would hit the short parapet wall at the front of block C or D at the Oval, and ricochet right back to the actual playing strip!” wrote Rohan Wijeyaratna in a recent column. “Thanks to this unprecedented assault, Malalasekera reached a sensational hundred in just two hours and 10 minutes on either side of lunch on day two. That innings, which contained 20 fours and one six, turned the flow of the game on its head, and to date ranks as one of the most fiercest exhibitions of sustained hitting ever seen in the entire history of the RoyalThomian”.

After attending Royal College, Colombo, he travelled to England to study law at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. While there, he played first-class cricket for Cambridge University Cricket Club from 1966 to 1968, making 27 appearances.

In 1967, he opened batting with fellow Sri Lankan Mano Ponniah, as they became the first Asians to open for Cambridge in a university game. Vijaya, however missed playing in the entire 1968 season due to a troublesome shoulder injury. After graduating, he returned to Sri Lanka and played a few Sara Trophy games for the NCC and then shifted to the CCC where he played some Daily News cricket.

In 1973, he joined the Ceylon Tobacco Company as a Senior Management Trainee and became its Company Secretary in 1984. In 1995 he was appointed to its Board of Directors as Director of Corporate and Legal Affairs, holding the post until his retirement. He remained a non-executive Director.

After the Rienzie Wijetilleke-led interim committee resigned less than year into their appointment in May 2000, Mr. Malalasekera was appointed by President Chandrika Kumaratunge as Chairman of the second Interim Committee of the Cricket Board in March 2001.

Michael Tissera, Sidath Wettimuny and Kushil Gunasekera were the others in what was one of the most productive and efficient Interim Committees the Board had ever known.

During his tenure, Sri Lanka counted 10 straights Test wins under Sanath Jayasuriya’s captaincy, a record yet to be broken. During his tenure, he invited men of proven worth and capability to serve on the various sub-committees, and they were allowed to use their expertise and work without hindrance. With the change of Government in 2002, Malalasekera-led committee to stepped down and elections were held to Sri lanka Cricket, bringing to an end a sterling run in cricket administration.